Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe epub Faustus: From the German of Goethe, Embellished With Retsch's Series of Twenty-Seven Outlines, Illustrative of the Tragedy, Engraved By Henry Moses (Classic Reprint)

The favourable reception whichtheFAU sxusof Goethe has met with from the pubH chas induced llie pubhshers to submit to their notice another edition, and by way of preface they think it only necessary to annex the following extrac;t from a celebrated weekly paper, a considerable portion of which is usually devoted to the fine arts. Retsch sO utlines have given to the eye the very essence of the leading occurrences in this tragedy. In the beauty of the young lovers, rivalling that which Ovid himself has described in his mythological youth, the diabolism of the face, hoof, and character of Mephitophcles, the action and shapes of the witches, animals, c. and the tormenting passions that actuate the frames ofF aust and Margaret, we peruse over again, in the translating language of the graver, the vivid and heart-displaying thoughts of the great German Poet. The scenes, says the I ntroduction, are so well selected for the Plates, that they afford a connected view of the whole drama. The exact repetition of costume in every spot, for instance, in Faust sstudy, and in Martha and Margaret schambers, makes us feel at home with them, and traces a sort of biography of the inmates. The witchs kitchen, and the scenery and figures of theB locksbcrg, astonish us by their variety. In their monstrous extravagances, thejwill excite only a pleasant smile, not disgust. The figures are drawn with similar propriety and expression. Margaret passes through the dift crent gradations of reserve, maiden coyness, fondness, perplexity, yielding, ominous grief and despair. Faust slooks, gradually strained by the passions to the tension of despair, are conspicuous in the last plate. Mephistopheles never appears as a bugbear, yet so much of a devil, that we can always sec how much the mask of decency stniggles to fall of. We scarcely ever have known so much sportive invention intermixed, in(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)